Break My Heart
by jayfeather12345
Summary: Trust can take years to build, a second to break, and may never reach the same level again. And yet without trust, a relationship is doomed to fail. If you truly love someone, you'll take the risk of a broken heart to be with them, but Leaf doesn't know if Gary is worth it. Because she knows he'll end up breaking her heart. The question is, will she let him? ORS, CS, IS, PS
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Pokemon.

Hey there everyone! I know I really shouldn't be starting another story, since I can barely cope with the ones I've already got, but I'll manage somehow! This idea just won't leave me alone and I've already got the first four chapters written (they just need editing now) so I thought I'd post the character profiles and prologue and see what happens.

I know character profiles aren't always the most interesting things to read, but please do absorb each character's history and relationships with the other characters because it saves me from having to waste too much time explaining it in the actual story. Thanks :)

Enjoy!

* * *

**Character Profiles**

**Name: **Leaf Greene

**Age: **Sixteen

**Chosen Subjects:** Dance, Theater, Music, Sport

**Best Friend:** Gary Oak

**Close Friends:** Drew Hayden, Ash Ketchum, May Maple, Dawn Berlitz, Misty Waterflower and Paul Shinji

**Family: **Two parents living in Kanto, only child

**Other: **Has been on a few dates but never really had a proper relationship before

**Name: **Misty Waterflower

**Age: **Seventeen

**Chosen Subjects:** Sport, Music, Theater, Dance

**Best Friend:** Ash Ketchum

**Close Friends:** Drew Hayden, Gary Oak, May Maple, Dawn Berlitz, Leaf Greene and Paul Shinji

**Family: **Three older sisters, no parents

**Other: **Has a 'magic mallet' which she uses to keep everyone in line

**Name: **May Maple

**Age: **Sixteen

**Chosen Subjects:** Music, Theater, Dance, Sport

**Best Friend:** Dawn Berlitz

**Close Friends:** Drew Hayden, Gary Oak, Misty Waterflower, Ash Ketchum, Leaf Greene and Paul Shinji

**Family:** Younger half-brother, Max Maple (fifteen years old), who shares May's mother but has a different father. Her mother, Caroline, re-married to Norman after May's father left her. She also has a step-brother, Gary Oak (five months older than her).

**Other: **Her father left her mother a few months after May was born but he always kept in touch, which is how May came to know Gary. Gary's mother died when he was six years old and his father didn't want him so asked Caroline to take him in. Caroline felt sorry for Gary because both she and his mother were played by Ralph, May and Gary's father, so she agreed to look after Gary. He and May basically grew up together. She has also been unofficially dating Brendan Birch for about a year - they don't call each other boy/girlfriend but they keep going out on 'not-dates' and are off-limits to other boys or girls relationship-wise.

**Name: **Dawn Berlitz

**Age: **Seventeen

**Chosen Subjects:** Music, Dance, Theater, Sport

**Best Friend:** May Maple

**Close Friends:** Drew Hayden, Gary Oak, Misty Waterflower, Ash Ketchum, Leaf Greene and Paul Shinji

**Family:** Mother is Johanna, deputy head of Celestic Arts High

**Other: **Is currently dating Lucas Johns, but none of her relationships have been known to last for more than a month

**Name: **Ash Ketchum

**Age: **Sixteen

**Chosen Subjects:** Sport, Music, Theater, Dance

**Best Friend:** Misty Waterflower

**Close friends:** Drew Hayden, Gary Oak, Dawn Berlitz, May Maple, Leaf Greene and Paul Shinji

**Family: **Mother lives in Kanto and he has a cousin called Red who also attends Celestic Arts High

**Other: **He is very over-protective of the girls in the group and hates to see any of them get hurt

**Name: **Drew Hayden

**Age: **Sixteen

**Chosen Subjects:** Music, Dance, Theater, Sport

**Best Friend: **Paul Shinji

**Close Friends:** Ash Ketchum, Gary Oak, Dawn Berlitz, May Maple, Leaf Greene and Misty Waterflower

**Family: **A rich father who is always away on business trips and who has a new girlfriend every month

**Other:** Is also known as Celestic Arts High's heartthrob, however he rarely gets involved with his admirers

**Name: **Paul Shinji

**Age: **Seventeen

**Chosen Subjects:** Sport, Music, Theater, Dance

**Best Friend: **Drew Hayden

**Close Friends:** Ash Ketchum, Gary Oak, Dawn Berlitz, May Maple, Leaf Greene and Misty Waterflower

**Family: **Older brother, Reggie, and no parents

**Other: **Despite being 'close' friends with the rest of the group, no-one actually knows that much about him – he keeps himself shut away and his emotions strongly under check most of the time

**Name: **Gary Oak

**Age: **Seventeen

**Chosen Subjects:** Theater, Music, Sport, Dance

**Best friend:** Leaf Greene

**Close Friends: **Ash Ketchum, Drew Hayden, Dawn Berlitz, May Maple, Paul Shinji and Misty Waterflower

**Family: **Mother died when he was six, his father left her well before that. His younger (by five months) step-sister is May Maple and although he isn't related by blood to Max Maple, they grew up as brothers.

**Other: **May's mother, Caroline, and her step-father, Norman, took Gary in after his mother dies, so he calls them his parents now and May and Max are his siblings. He is also the biggest player in the school and has a new girlfriend every week but never stays faithful to them, always cheating on them.

* * *

**Prologue**

Celestic Arts High is a school like any other. Only it's not. It's highly esteemed and nearly impossible to get into. There are barely fifty students per year. The campus is huge with state of the art facilities including a recording studio, multiple practise rooms, two large theatres, two inside stages and one outside stage (in the centre of campus – all the buildings are situated around it), a huge swimming pool, two sports halls and four large outside courts, and luxury boarding rooms.

I suppose that's why it has enemies. CA High produces the teenagers who go on to become famous and many people who don't get in become jealous. Of course I knew that. We all did.

Being a teenager with all the normal drama going on is hard enough, but when you add the media sniffing out secrets that are supposed to stay buried, that just complicates things a whole lot more.

If I could turn back time and go back to where it all started, on that fateful day in November, I would. Because despite what he'll tell you, I never meant to hurt him.

I never meant to break his heart.

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**Author's Note: **In case it wasn't clear, they all attend Celestic Arts High School and they're in their third year there (Max is in his first year). Their chosen subjects were in order from the most prioritised to least prioritised, and the list of close friends were in no particular order for each person.

Since I've already written the first chapter, I'll post if it I get a couple of reviews ;)

Thanks for reading!

~ Jay


	2. The Start

**Disclaimer: **Pokemon isn't mine :(

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I honestly didn't expect so many reviews on the prologue, especially since it was so short! Here's the next chapter, as promised :D

Replies to anonymous reviews:

Ready to fly: _Thank you! Hopefully you'll like this chapter :)_

Moo2: _Don't worry, May and Dawn aren't going to get all the attention in this story. Actually in this chapter the drama kinda revolves around Dawn but each character will have their fair share of the limelight, and the story is ultimately about Leaf. Thank you so much for your review and support! :)_

Oh and just to confirm, the story is written from Leaf's POV. I haven't decided yet whether to include other POVs or not.

Enjoy.

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**Chapter One**

**~ The Start ~**

It was a normal day at Celestic Arts High School and despite it being early November the sun was shining, giving the dull school corridors a sense of warmth and light.

Since it was lunch break I was headed to the cafeteria with Gary. We had last period before lunch together every Tuesday and plus we were best friends, so it made sense for us to walk together, but his fangirls were annoying me so much I had half a mind to ditch him and make my own way there.

"Can't you do something about them?" I asked in annoyance, jerking my thumb over my shoulder at the five or six cheerleaders who were basically stalking us through the corridors.

Gary glanced back at them and smirked. They all swooned and one fainted, falling to the floor because her friends were too busy gawking at Gary to notice her. _Some friends she has, and seriously? Shallow, much? _

"Aw but Leafy, I couldn't be so mean as to deprive them of my glorious presence. You know they live for me," he pouted, turning back to face me.

I punched his arm and he staggered sideways as we turned the corner into another whitewashed, freshly cleaned corridor lined with turquoise lockers. I may be a small girl, but I certainly know how to pack a punch. "If you 'deprived them of your glorious presence," I quoted, mocking his voice, "then they would actually be able to get lives of their own instead of wasting their time stalking you. Don't you ever tire of them? And besides, don't you have a girlfriend?" I reminded him.

Gary raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like someone's jealous," he teased. "And Veronica doesn't count. She _is _a cheerleader." I rolled my eyes. Gary was always like that; he never cared about the girls he dated.

"Just because a hoard of idiotic, brainless boys don't stalk me it doesn't mean guys aren't interested in me," I informed Gary loftily, trying to block out the sound of the cheerleaders calling out for Gary to pay them some attention. He obliged, turning round to wink at them, and I pinched his arm.

"Ouch," Gary winced, "Such a violent little girl you are." I smirked, but frowned when his words registered. Then he added, "Guys are interested in you? Like who?"

"I'm not little!" I shot back as I scanned the crowded corridor and picked out a face at random. "Like Red," I said, pointing him out. Red was actually Ash's cousin, so I'd known him for as long as I'd known Ash (basically my whole life), just not as well, since he only came to visit Ash a couple of times a year.

"Oh yeah?" Gary asked disbelievingly. _Is it really that hard to believe that some boys actually do like me? _

"Yeah!" I retorted. "Hey Red!" I called over the chattering students between us. The boy with naturally (by natural I mean without even a sniff of hair gel) spiky brown hair and warm brown eyes like melted chocolate looked up from his locker. A smile tugged the corners of his mouth up when he spotted me and he shut his locker, weaving his way through the crowd to come and greet me.

"Hi Leaf!" Red said enthusiastically. "How're you doing?"

I smiled at him, glancing at Gary's unimpressed expression out of the corner of my eye. "Great thanks, I just saw you over there and wondered how you were?" I said, "I hadn't seen you yet today."

Gary scoffed, interrupting before Red could say anything. "You can live without him. You managed all of last week, and the week before that, and the week before that, and the week before- oof!" he gasped as I elbowed him in the stomach. _Hard_. He doubled over but I kept my eyes fixed on Red and a smile firmly in place on my face. Red gave Gary an amused look as he answered my question.

"Yeah I'm not bad, but I have to run – I've got extra-curricular swimming as catch up lessons because I missed several last month," he apologised. "I'll catch you later though?" he added uncertainly.

"You can bet on it," I assured him and he grinned happily.

"Great! Bye," he said, taking off down the corridor, keeping his eye on his watch. Behind us the cheerleaders renewed their efforts in trying to catch Gary's attention, but I blocked out their whiny voices and turned to face Gary, who was still doubled over from when I wacked him.

"See? Boys do too like me… Gary?"

"He… I… Can't…breathe…" Gary gasped out, staggering dramatically over to the wall.

I rolled my eyes. "Stop being such a drama queen," I scolded, "it didn't hurt that much." When Gary didn't drop the act I frowned, looking more closely at him. "Gary?" I questioned, a hint of worry seeping into my voice. I was about to offer to take him to the nurse when he straightened up, brushed off his shirt, and strode away up the corridor, leaving me staring after him with my mouth gaping. Immediately the cheerleaders pounced on him, swarming around him like bugs.

Getting over my initial surprise, I narrowed my eyes. "Gary!" I yelled after him. He raised one hand in a half-wave to show he'd heard me but kept walking. "Gary! Get back here! That wasn't funny – Gary!"

* * *

When we eventually entered the cafeteria (with Gary looking so smug you'd think he had won the lottery and me slightly red in the face from fighting through the cheerleaders to catch up to him) it was full of noise and hustle and bustle. Lunch was already in full swing as we went to get our food, still with Gary's stupid cheerleaders in tow. _Don't they ever give up?_

At least they finally left us alone when Gary and I took our seats at our usual table. Ever since an incident involving an incredibly angry Paul and a wild Misty last year, no-one bothered any of us at lunch any more unless they either wanted to die or they're desperate.

See, I suppose you could call us 'the popular group', but we only acquired this high social status because so much happens in our group. There's always some kind of drama going on and Melody (the school gossip and aspiring news reporter) is always trying to work her way into our group because whenever something goes on at school you can bet at least one of us is involved somehow.

Misty, Ash, Drew, May, and Paul were already eating so I slipped in next to Drew and Gary took his place besides May. Paul was the other side of Drew and Misty and Ash were on the other side of May.

"You both took your time," Drew commented after we sat down.

I shrugged, munching a ham sandwich. "Gary's cheerleaders were annoying me – they seriously need to learn the meaning of personal space – and Gary said I was just jealous because no boys follow me around, and so I had to prove that some guys are actually interested in me. Then he was being a jerk and pretending to be hurt," I explained.

"Hey! You elbowed me in the gut – it hurt!" Gary protested.

"No it didn't. You're just a big baby. Sometimes I think you're even more of a drama queen than Dawn," I retorted.

"Am not," Gary argued.

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am-"

"Shut up the both of you!" Misty yelled in exasperation. "I'd like to eat lunch in peace and quiet for once. Do _not_ make me bring out my mallet," she warned.

Gary and I paled simultaneously. "That's quite all right," I said quickly. "Gary accepts he's a big baby and a drama queen and he has no need to argue anymore," I assured her, warily eyeing her hands, which were luckily both visible above the table. Misty's talent may be swimming but she takes magic lessons on the side and so knows a thing or two about magic tricks. If she doesn't make it as a professional swimmer (which she will) then she'll become a magician.

See, she has this 'magic mallet' which is hidden somewhere on her person at all times so she can pull it out of seemingly nowhere and whack anyone at any time she deems appropriate. I've been whacked once (by accident), and I'm not keen to experience it again. It hurts. She usually reserves it for the boys, or for when Dawn is being overly dramatic. Speaking of Dawn…

Before Gary could protest and draw me back into the pointless argument (because I am obviously right) our beautiful, over-dramatic friend came storming up to the table.

Slamming her tray down so hard she made even the stoic Paul jump (and that's not an easy feat to achieve), she took her place by Gary. If she didn't look so mad I would have congratulated her.

However she didn't launch into a long rant like I expected her to. She simply sat and fumed in silence, eating her apple so angrily that chunks flew off and landed in random places. One piece even landed on Ash's head. He reached up and fished it out of his hair, popping it into his mouth. I wrinkled my nose. _Gross._

"Mm, crunchy," he commented happily.

"Ew, Ash," May groaned. Misty and I echoed with our own noises of disgust, but Dawn glared daggers at him.

"Ash! That is disgusting!" she shrieked, blowing up at him. It was completely out of character for her – Misty, I would expect to get mad over something like that, but Dawn? Never. Something must have really upset her.

"Hey, calm down," Drew said, looking surprised at the ferocity of her tone.

Dawn shot him a murderous glare. Drew sat as calm and collected as ever, but he did look slightly uncomfortable under her glower. I didn't blame him. If I had been in his position I would have been cowering under the table by now, so I had to give him credit for his bravery.

I gestured at Misty to talk to Dawn. Since Misty was the most mature out of all of us, I thought she was the most appropriate person to deal with Dawn right now.

Misty rolled her eyes at me but she spoke up. "Dawn, what's wrong?" she asked gently, as if Dawn were a minefield which might blow up at any moment. A pretty accurate description if you ask me.

Dawn turned her glare on Misty and for a moment I thought she was going to ignore her, but then she opened her mouth to speak. "Lucas!" she burst out. Several heads in the cafeteria turned to stare at our table so I stood up and flapped my hands at them, telling them to mind their own business. The last thing Dawn needed right now was to be gossiped about. As I sat down Dawn continued, "Lucas was flirting with another girl! Flirting! Right in front of me!" she exploded. Then she clammed up, refusing to speak another word, but her eyes were begging us to enquire further.

I was curious so I decided to oblige. "What exactly happened though?"

"I'm glad you asked," Dawn began loftily. The apple lay discarded on her tray and I noticed Ash reaching across Misty and May to try and steal it. Unfortunately for him, Misty noticed his hand sneaking under her nose and slapped it away. He looked like a cowed dog and I had to stifle a giggle as I paid attention to Dawn. "I was talking to Lucas by his locker when another girl came up to him. Then right in front of me he began flirting with her and ignored the fact I was standing right there!" she told us heatedly, curling her hands into fists.

Gary rolled his eyes. "Drama queen," he muttered under his breath.

Dawn turned to him with blazing eyes. "What did you say?" she hissed.

_Uh-oh._ I could feel another argument coming along.

"Drama queen," Gary repeated loudly. "You're blowing this way out of proportion."

"How dare you-" Dawn began, but Gary held up his hand to silence her.

"Uh-uh. You and Lucas have only been going out for three weeks and you've already have seventeen arguments, according to him. _Seventeen_," he pointed out. "None of your boyfriends last more than a month anyway, so what's the big deal?"

Dawn's mouth gaped open slightly as she stared at him, not used to being talked to like that. I decided I needed to intervene so I kicked Gary under the table. He winced. "You can't talk," I told him sternly. "You have a new girlfriend every five minutes."

"So?" Gary asked, yawning.

"_So_, at least Dawn tries. She doesn't go round breaking hearts on purpose," I pointed out.

Before Gay and I could get into another argument May interrupted us. "Um, Dawn, who was the girl?"

Dawn's attention snapped to May. "Marina Sanchez," she spat.

"Marina San-" Misty began to repeat in surprise. "What did Lucas say to her?"

"He congratulated her for winning last week's fashion show. He said she looked beautiful!" she screeched, gripping the side of the table.

"As has practically every other boy in the school," Drew put in calmly. "Besides, Marina has a boyfriend. She wouldn't flirt with another boy."

"That's not the point," Dawn hissed. "He was flirting with another girl right under my nose! What if he's been cheating on me all this time?" Her eyes widened as the thought occurred to her and she paled. Her bottom lip began to tremble as May swapped places with her brother so she could put an arm around her.

"I'm sure he's not been cheating on you," May said comfortingly. "Why would he? You're beautiful and talented; any guy would be crazy to cheat on you."

Dawn shivered despite the heating being turned up high in the cafeteria. "Marina is more beautiful and more talented," she muttered mutinously, a tear leaking out of her eye and rolling down her cheek.

Just then Drew nudged my arm and nodded at something behind me. Looking around I noticed Lucas entering the cafeteria, scanning the students as if searching for someone. "Here comes trouble," Drew remarked. Gary grinned in anticipation and I shot a quick, meaningful glance at May and Misty.

"Okay, time to go," Misty said briskly, standing up.

May caught on and also stood up, pulling Dawn with her. "Let's get you out of here; your mascara is running and we should head to the girls bathrooms to get you cleared up for afternoon classes," she added hurriedly as she and Misty led Dawn away.

"See? She's such a drama queen," Gary commented once she was out of hearing range.

"Stop being so mean; she's your friend, you should be on her side since she's upset," I reprimanded him, slumping down in my seat and finishing my sandwich.

"I get that and of course I love the girl but this happens like once or twice, sometimes three times a month, and it's getting tiring," Gary said just as Lucas approached our table looking extremely nervous.

Paul, who hadn't said a single thing all lunch and had appeared to be falling to sleep, suddenly became alert as he glared at the anxious-looking boy. "What do you want?" he snapped.

Lucas jumped at the unfriendly tone but to his credit he didn't run away screaming. "S-sorry. I just wondered if any of you have seen Dawn?"

"Why'd ya wanna know?" Gary asked, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. I mentally face-palmed. _Please don't make this worse,_ I begged him silently.

"She ran off just now while I was talking to Marina," Lucas told us, eyeing Gary warily. He seemed thoroughly confused so I reached out and patted his arm comfortingly.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll turn up sooner or later," I told him knowing full well Dawn was likely to dump him the next time she saw him. _Now get out of here before anything bad happens, _I added silently.

"Now leave," Paul tagged on to the end of my sentence. I shot him a brief look but his face was void of any expression.

Lucas began to back away, thanking me, when Ash stopped him. "Dawn's really upset," he informed Dawn's soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend. I face-palmed for real this time and Drew mirrored my expression.

"I'll catch you all later," Drew said, standing up.

I frowned. "Where are you going?" _Don't leave me here to suffer,_ I pleaded silently. Gary was enjoying this, Paul really didn't care, and Ash was just making the whole situation worse. Drew couldn't abandon me here to play peacemaker all by myself!

Drew smirked at me and I narrowed my eyes. _Don't you dare-_ "Places to be, people to see," Drew told me with a smug look on his face. "Good luck," he added as he walked away. I glared at his retreating back but the smug look was wiped off of his face when a girl with brown hair and flushed cheeks, Brianna, ran up to him with several of her friends in tow and began chattering animatedly at him. For once I was amused at the antics of his fangirls. He so deserved that.

My attention was pulled back to the situation at hand when Ash said, "Dawn told us you were flirting with Marina right I front of her. Why would you do that to her?"

I love Ash, truly I do, but sometimes I wish I had Misty's magic mallet on me. I knew he just wanted to protect Dawn but he should know better than to get involved.

"What?" Lucas was startled. "But I wasn't-"

"She thinks your cheating on her," Ash continued with a frown. "For your sake I hope she was just overreacting," he added, narrowing his eyes warningly. I had to hand it to him, he sure knew how to act like the over-protective brother.

Lucas looked worried, but not because of Ash. "I'm not cheating on her," he assured us. "Dawn is everything I could hope for in a girl. I just wish she would trust me," he sighed in frustration. "I should go and find her, and see if I can sort this out," he muttered, more to himself than to us.

"Oh, no, maybe wait until-" I began to call after him but he was already walking away and didn't hear me. "Until she's calmed down," I finished with a sigh. This was not going to end well.

"Well, that was amusing," Gary commented lightly. I shot him a glare. "What? Ash not thinking about food and instead trying to protect Dawn never gets old." At least it eased tension, I guess.

"Hey, I was only looking out for her," Ash protested as he finally succeeded in seizing the apple form Dawn's abandoned tray.

Gary shook his head. "Trying to stop Dawn's heart from getting broken is futile," he said, unknowingly speaking my own thoughts aloud.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked as he crunched the apple loudly.

Gary sighed. "None of the relationships Dawn has are founded on trust. There's no hint of trust anywhere in any of her relationships and without trust, the relationship is doomed to fail. It's inevitable. If you don't trust your partner then your relationship won't last. Simple. Now if Dawn trusted her partner and vice versa, her relationship would last a lot longer," he explained.

"Wow, that was deep," I commented. "When did you get so wise?"

Gary shrugged. "It's common sense."

"But if she does trust her partner and then it turns out that the one boy she actually trusts is cheating on her, won't that be a lot more damaging?" I asked.

"Yeah," Gary nodded in agreement, standing up. "But that's a risk you gotta take if you really want to make a relationship work. And if you truly love someone then you'll take that risk without a second thought," he said, sounding distant and staring at nothing over my shoulder.

I stared at him. That was an extremely insightful and meaningful statement, something which I had never thought Gary would make. "This coming from Mr Player who toys with girl's hearts for the fun of it?" was the only thing I could say.

Gary shot me a cool glance. "Girls know what they're getting into when they date me. It's only for fun, nothing is ever serious. Besides, I trust them all as far as I can throw them. As I said before, even if I wanted the relationship to work, without trust it's inevitably going to break down. I gotta go meet Veronica, see ya later," he said, shaking out of his stupor and walking off with his trademark half-wave.

I stared after him. "Wow. I did not expect that from him," I murmured, mostly to myself.

"Well it's like they say, you learn something new every day," Ash said, finishing the apple.

Paul grunted. "I can't take any more of your stupidity today," he told Ash as he also left, leaving just Ash and I.

"Yeah you know what, I think I'm going to get ready for my next class," I added faintly. Gary's words were still sinking in and I needed some time to think.

"WE ARE OVER!" Dawn's screech made me, along with the rest of the cafeteria, jump out of our skins. Turning around I saw her facing Lucas in the entrance to the cafeteria with apologetic-looking Misty and May's standing behind her. Ah, well. Looks like Lucas found Dawn after all.

Shaking my head, I got up to leave as Lucas tried to protest. There never was a dull day at Celestic Arts High, I'll say that.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hehe, sorry for the bad chapter title... but ignoring that, what'd ya'll think?

Please tell me if something wasn't clear, I always find introductions hard because I've got it all sorted in my head and I sometimes forget that you (the readers) can't read my mind :P

Thanks for reading!

~ Jay


	3. Cold

**Disclaimer: **I don't own pokemon.

Hey guys! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter :D

Replies to anonymous reviews:

**WinglessDog:** I know right! Oldrivalshipping rocks! Thanks for your review, here's the update :D

**Ready to fly:** Haha yep, I love all their individual characters, they're all really fun to write and portray so hopefully I did a good job this chapter too. Thanks so much for your review! :D

**19Madison:** Thanks! Here's the next update :)

**Moo2:** Yeah, I feel sorry for Lucas... but we haven't see the last of him ;) Thanks for your review :D

A quick note, Dawn quotes the words of the song 'Mama's Broken Heart' by Miranda Lambert in this chapter. I've put the direct quote in italics and although it's only a couple from lines from the song, the whole song will be used later.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

**~ Cold ~**

Later that afternoon, after lessons had finished, I walked back to the dorms with Drew and Gary. As soon as we entered the lobby of the main building Gary turned left to head to the room he shared with Drew, Paul and Ash. I knew Paul was still in the recording studio after last period Music and Ash, well, who knows where he was? So that left Drew and I to turn right, towards the girl's side of the dorm building.

"I'll walk you back," Drew offered as Gary vanished with a half wave towards the boys dorms.

"Thanks," I accepted with a smile. "See, why can't Gary be more like you?" I asked as we began heading out of the lobby in the direction of the girl's dorms.

"If he wasn't such a jerk then many of his relationships would last longer," he replied, flicking his hair. A fangirl who was passing us gasped and began fanning her face. I rolled my eyes at her, glancing at Drew to see he looked slightly exasperated at her reaction.

Forgetting the fangirl as we continued on down the corridor, I raised my eyebrows. "Wouldn't that be a good thing though? Besides I'm his best friend, not his girlfriend, so shouldn't he act differently with me?"

Drew shrugged. "Gary doesn't see the point in lasting relationships. You'd have to ask him why."

"You don't know?" I was surprised. Drew and Gary were as close as brothers, I thought Drew would have known.

"Oh I know, but it's something he should tell you. I'm surprised you don't know, actually – haven't you two been best friends since you were in diapers?" Drew asked.

I nodded. "But we went to different schools when we were eleven, for three years, though we always kept in touch," I told him. I was a little hurt to find out Gary was keeping secrets form me. I'd been his best friend his whole life, not Drew – they had only met when we all started CA High together. But I was sure he had a reason, so I didn't press the issue. And it wasn't like he knew absolutely everything about me (just almost everything), and I wasn't a hypocrite.

"As for the best friend thing," Drew added. "Gary doesn't want to make any exceptions. Even for you."

"Don't I know it," I scoffed, remembering the incident in the corridor this morning. We halted in front of the elevator but there was a note stuck on it, saying it was out of order, so we headed for the staircase. "Anyway, are you and the guys doing that project for extra credit that prof. Black set?" I asked, changing the subject.

"The one where each group has to perform a song at the end of each week on the main campus stage?" he checked. I nodded. Students often hung around there after school, even in the winter months, so the professor thought providing entertainment for them would not only entertain them but help us improve our group performances. The project was optional though. "We're giving it a shot. Paul's writing our song this week," he told me, flicking his hair just as another couple of giggling fangirls passed us.

It freaked me out how the fangirls always appeared whenever he flicked his hair, like they knew exactly when he was going to do it. I stuck my tongue out at them and they were so surprised they forgot to flirt with 'Mr Drew' as they called him. I grinned. _Success!_ Drew just rolled his eyes at me. He didn't encourage his fangirls, unlike Gary.

"How mature," he told me dryly. "Now you're beginning to act like May," he said disapprovingly.

I mock glared at him. "I'm not that immature!" I exclaimed. As an afterthought, I added, "And neither is May," I said in defence of my friend.

Drew snorted. "May is the most immature person I know."

"Only when you're around," I retorted. "You rile her up on purpose and you know it. She can be mature when she wants to be."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Drew replied as we reached the dorm I shared with May, Misty and Dawn. He followed me in when I entered, and I didn't question him. All eight of us are so close that we pretty much live in both rooms, apart from sleeping of course.

In our dorm we have main room which is half kitchen, half living room, two bedrooms (two girls per room), and en suite bathrooms. All the dorms for the two upper years at CA high were the same, but the two lower years only had bedrooms and bathrooms.

However the moment Drew and I entered the room we stopped dead. The deputy head, Ms Berlitz (AKA Dawn's mother), was standing in the middle of the living room facing towards us. Standing with her head bowed and her back to us, in front of her mother, was Dawn. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Drew slip over to May and Misty, who were standing off to the side of the room by a sofa. I stayed where I was, staring at Ms Berlitz. She looked like she was in the middle of telling Dawn off and she looked scary.

"Pull yourself together Dawn, it's just a break-up. It's not like you haven't had plenty of those before," Ms Berlitz said sternly, finishing what looked like it had been a long rant before switching her attention to Drew and I.

For the first time I wondered what Johanna, as we were allowed to call her in private, thought of her daughter's track record with boys. From the sound if it she was fed up with Dawn's behaviour. I suppose it was lucky that nothing about Dawn's frequent relationship failures was leaked to the media. The news reporters would have a field a day if they knew the deputy head of CA High's daughter broke so many hearts. It certainly wouldn't reflect well on the school. But Johanna always struck me as a rather down-to-earth kind of person, and no problem had arisen before.

Something seemed off about the respectable woman as I studied her, but I didn't have time to wonder what might be wrong before she was speaking again.

"Leaf, Drew, it's good to see you both looking well," she said briskly. I gave her a small smile and Drew nodded his head. "Please excuse me, I must get back to work." The tall, elegant woman left the room with a sweep of her long skirt and shut the door quickly behind her.

I begun to speak, but then Dawn turned around to face me. I was startled into silence by her appearance. Her eyes were red and puffy, her make-up had run and her hair was messy. She looked completely un-Dawn-like.

"_Go fix your make-up, girl it's just a break-up,_" Dawn cried, her voice weak and croaky. "_It doesn't matter how you feel, only how you look._" The words seemed to force their way out of her throat and they felt like an echo – was she repeating someone's words, perhaps her mother's? Her next words confirmed it. "_But this isn't my mama's broken heart_." She looked like she was about to collapse.

I swallowed, stepping forward. "Dawn, are you…?" I began hesitantly. I never was good with emotional moments.

"No, no I'm not okay," Dawn whispered, looking as if she were falling apart internally. My heart ached for her but there was nothing I could do. "Lucas broke my heart and my mama doesn't even care – all she cares about is that the stupid paparazzi doesn't catch me looking like such a mess and start rumours." She coughed, choking on her freely falling tears. I may not have been the best person to offer comfort but I was quick to envelop her in a hug.

"Shh, hey, it's going to be okay," I murmured as she wrapped her arms around me as if I was the only thing anchoring her to reality. Maybe I was.

Misty and May both joined us, lending their support to Dawn as she clung onto all of us. I had forgotten Drew was there as well until he coughed awkwardly.

"I should go," he muttered, turning to leave. Dawn just sobbed harder and I watched out of the corner of my eyes as May left me and Misty to hold Dawn as she grabbed a cushion to chuck at Drew.

Said boy held up his hands. "Girls crying really isn't something any boy likes dealing with," he excused himself. It was possibly the only time I'd seen him looking awkward.

"Could you be any more insensitive?" May gasped, glaring at him. Misty and I rocked Dawn in our arms as she began shaking as sobs wracked her body; May and Drew's arguing wasn't helping the situation.

"What do you expect me to do?" Drew shot back casually. Despite his calm façade I could hear worry in the undertones of his voice – even if he didn't show it, deep down he cared. "Hold her in my arms for the rest of the night like Leaf and Misty are doing? I don't think so," he snorted, flicking his hair arrogantly. Yes, he cares, but very, _very_ deep down. If I hadn't been afraid to let go of Dawn I would have punched him for that comment. Sometimes he and Gary and a little too similar for my liking.

May glowered at him. "What did you say?" she yelled.

"Oh, are you deaf?" Drew shrugged, his eyes flicking over to Dawn. Her hacking sobs filled the room as I rubbed her back awkwardly, unsure of what to do. May was the best (after Dawn, but of course Dawn couldn't comfort herself) in these situations but she was too preoccupied by Drew at the moment. Then Misty pulled away with a gleam in her eyes that had me convinced she was up to no good.

"You-" May began to scream at Drew but a *thonk* cut her off. "Owww," she moaned, staggering sideways and clutching her head_. And Misty's magic mallet strikes again!_ I cheered silently. Even Dawn managed a shaky, choked-up laugh. Unfortunately Drew dodged out of the way when Misty went to whack him.

"Here," he tossed May a rose as she straightened up. She caught it in surprise, staring down at it as her cheeks heated up.

"What's this for?" she asked in confusion.

Drew smirked. "You know you're blushing?" he replied, ignoring her question.

May glared at him. "Why you-" she began to get worked up again, but Misty pushed her out of the way and advanced upon Drew with her magic mallet.

"Later May," the green-headed jerk said eyeing Misty warily and hurriedly leaving the room.

I sighed. Well, at least that was one problem dealt with. Now the three of us could focus on Dawn. Although it looked like May was preoccupied with the rose Drew had given her… I smirked to myself and turned back to Dawn. Now wasn't the time to tease her, but I would remember it for later.

* * *

It was a long night filled with popcorn, ice cream, cheesy chick-flicks and tissues. We all drifted off to sleep in the early hours of the morning – the last time I checked my watch it was 3:40, so when the morning bell rang to wake us up none of us wanted to move.

Misty got up first. I wasn't surprised; that girl has a will of iron. She then rose May and Dawn (beats me how she managed to get May up), the latter whom seemed to have forgotten all about her broken heart. From the sound of her singing (which I had to bury my head under my pillow to escape) she was back to her usual cheery self.

They then tried to wake me up. I was having none of it though. I simple wouldn't budge throughout their coaxing, tickling, yelling, kicking, whacking from Misty's magic mallet, and pulling off of my cocoon-like duvet which even in the depths of sleep I held onto with a death-like grip. My barely conscious brain thought it had won, but oh how wrong I was.

The next thing I knew, I had been drenched in ice cold water. I shot up with eyes widened in shock. "You…" I gasped, pointing a shaky finger at May who held the bucket, as far as my bleary eyes could make out. "You…" I moved my mouth but no words came out. I was speechless. This was betrayal of the worst kind. I had never expected one of my best friends to stab me in the back so coldly (pun intended).

I shivered, desperately rubbing my arms in an attempt to warm up. I gave May my worst glare, and I would have tackled her there and then if Dawn hadn't started to laugh. Her voice was scratchy and her laugh rougher than usual but it was still like music to my ears after the long night we had endured. Because Dawn had cheered up, I settled for just glaring at May. "I'm letting you off easy this time," I growled. "_Never _do that _ever_ again," I added warningly.

May laughed. "I'm sorry Leaf, I had to do it! How else were we going to wake you up?" She put the bucket on the floor and I shrugged.

"You weren't," I muttered under my breath as my teeth began chattering. "I n-need a w-w-warm sho-shower," I said out loud through my chattering teeth.

"Good idea," Misty agreed in a strangled voice. Looking at her I realised she was trying not to laugh at me, but she was losing the fight. She gave in and began laughing along with May and Dawn. I scowled.

I was about to get up when a voice coming from the door startled me. "This is priceless!" I turned around and just had time to notice Gary holding a camera before-

*Snap!*

He took a picture of me in all of my soaking glory. Oh no. He did _not _just do that.

"Give me that!" I yelled with difficulty – it is very hard to yell and sound menacing when your teeth are chattering. I stood up, forgetting I was still wearing pyjamas (and luckily my bra underneath – I'd forgotten to take it off last night) and I began slowly advancing towards him and the other boys who I noticed slipping into the room after him. Ash and Drew were openly laughing at me, and even Paul gave me an amused smirk. I gnashed my teeth together. Gary was going to _pay_.

"No can do Leafy," Gary chortled, struggling to get the words out as tears of laughter slid down his face. "I am so keeping this." He slipped the camera into his pocket and I fisted my hands.

"Give me the camera," I began in a low voice, straining to keep my chattering teeth from ruining the murderous air I was giving off, "or I will hug you," I threatened.

Gary's eyes widened slightly as he shivered at the thought of me flinging my arms around me while I was still soaked through to the bone. "You wouldn't," he blustered.

"Oh, I would," I promised darkly.

"Go on Leaf, give him a great big hug!" Dawn cheered.

I saw Ash grin widely from the corner of my eye. "Watch out Gary, she's almost got you," he chuckled at the expression on Gary's face.

Misty and May also began egging me on as Drew and Ash laughed at Gary's panicked expression.

"You're never getting this," Gary backed away.

I grinned evilly. "You're mine!" I leaped forwards but Gary dodged and ran out of the room. Wasting no time I dashed after him.

While I chased the idiotic hedgehog-head through the corridors of the girl's dorm building, I forgot I was indecently dressed, I forgot I was cold, and I forgot how much trouble I would get into if I were caught. All I cared about in that moment was getting back the camera and pummelling Gary into dust.

Gary slid down the banister all the way down to the lobby, leaving me to take the slower route of the stairs because I didn't trust myself on the banister. Once I reached the bottom I saw Gary just leaving the lobby and, ignoring the stares of the few people who were hanging around the lobby, I chased after him determinedly.

"Ah!" I gasped, wincing as I set foot outside and gravel embedded itself in my bare feet. I ignored the pain and didn't let it distract me as I chased Gary down the path towards the fountain in the middle of campus. We passed the fountain and I was getting nearer and nearer with every step, paying no attention to the gathering crowd of people following us and egging us on.

Gary reached the cafeteria but in his haste he couldn't get the glass doors open fast enough. _Ha_. I jumped, colliding with him as he turned to try and escape a different way, and both of us crashed down to the ground. "Gotcha!" I shouted triumphantly, wrapping my arms around him and pressing myself as close to him as possible in order to let the freezing water soak through his clothes right to his skin.

Gary struggled against my grip and tried to push me off but I just clung on tighter as we rolled around on the floor with the growing crown of students whistling and calling out encouragement to both of us.

"Cold!" Gary gasped. "C-c-cold!"

"Exactly what you deserve," I hissed smugly. The adrenaline rush I had warmed me up slightly, so I wasn't shivering anymore and I didn't even feel cold, just wet.

"Gary Oak, Leaf Greene!" the shocked voice of Johanna made us freeze. In the brief silence that followed I thought I heard a click but I dismissed it as Gary and I slowly broke apart and stood up; me with a mortified expression on my face when I realised half the student population was gathered watching us, and Gary holding his head up high and a playful smirk on his face, despite the fact he was now shivering as much as I was, although my shivering was due more to shock than being cold. "Detention!" Mrs Berlitz ordered in a voice which could freeze the whole of Sinnoh. I wished that it hadn't been Dawn's mother who caught us, if anyone had to catch us at all, but there was nothing I could do.

We both followed Johanna back inside the lobby of the dorm building in subdued silence. Glancing over at Gary I saw that while he pretended not to care about being caught, underneath his bravado he felt as anxious as I did.

A thought occurred to me as we trailed after the deputy head, and I moved closer to Gary so I could whisper. "Why'd you and the other guys come over to our room so early anyway?"

Gary shrugged, slipping his hands into his pockets. "May texted Drew telling him what she was about to do. We couldn't pass up a chance like that," he replied with a smirk.

I glared at him. "Jerk," I hissed, keeping a wary eye on the back of Johanna's head.

"As if you expected anything less," Gary remarked casually.

He had a point. "Yeah, okay I do expect that of you. But I thought Drew would have more decency, and Paul as well."

"I don't know why you're complaining," Gary muttered. "You're the one who got us both in trouble."

"What?" I gaped at him in disbelief. "How is this my fault? You barged into our room and snapped a picture of me!" I hissed accusatively.

Gary raised an eyebrow. "So? You didn't have to chase me," he pointed out. "It's not my fault I didn't want an ice hug."

"You weren't forced to take a picture of me either," I snapped. No way was Gary going to lay the blame on me for this.

"Children, you're in enough trouble as it is. Don't make it worse for yourselves," Johanna cut into our conversation, startling us both into silence. I had been so caught up in my argument with Gary that I hadn't realised we had come to a halt in the lobby and Johanna was listening to every word we said. "Good. Now would one of you care to tell me what that was all about?"

Gary and I exchanged glances. I said nothing, so Gary spoke up. "She was chasing me so of course I was going to run away from her. I didn't expect her to follow me outside," he told Johanna. I narrowed my eyes at him. _That's right, pile the blame on me, _I glared.

Gary looked at me expectantly as if waiting for me to argue and shift the blame onto him. I shook my head slightly. _I'm not going to sink to his level,_ I thought, standing up a little straighter. Besides, it wasn't like Gary was wrong. I _had_ chased after him. But I knew if I told Johanna he had been in the girls dormitories (where boys were never, ever allowed) he would be in trouble so deep he'd still be attending detention well into his 70s. Luckily for him I wasn't that mean.

"Leaf? Anything to add?" Johanna asked me, looking like she also expected me to argue that it wasn't my fault.

I hesitated. Gary's eyes widened slightly. I considered the consequences if I did argue for my innocence. I decided it wasn't worth it. We'd both still be in trouble regardless. "Nothing," I said simply.

There was a look of surprise mixed with a slight touch of regret on Johanna's face as she said her next words. "Gary, you're getting off easily this time since I'm sure Leaf wasn't chasing you for no reason whatsoever, but since she refuses to give me her side of the story then one detention is all you'll get." Gary nodded, smiling in relief. I folded my hands behind my back, fidgeting uncomfortably as I waited for Johanna to announce my punishment. "As you won't defend yourself Leaf, I have no choice but to write your name in the blue book," she told me.

My eyes widened and my breathing slowed. I reigned in a gasp. "I…" I tried to form words but my throat constricted and I bit down on my tongue before I could say something I might later regret. _Gary owes me for life for this,_ I thought bitterly.

"I am sorry," Johanna said earnestly, "but I can't overlook this. Celestic Arts High can't afford to let its pupils run around in soaking pyjamas tackling innocent bystanders," she told me. She sounded sympathetic but firm. I sighed. Gary was anything but an innocent bystander, but I couldn't correct her.

"But surely this isn't a blue book offense?" Gary asked. Was it just the lighting or did he looked guilty? I stared at him, scrutinizing his face. He did! He looked guilty! _There's hope for him yet,_ I thought, biting back a small grin which was totally inappropriate in the current situation.

Turning my attention back to Johanna, I saw a grave expression on her face and I instantly lost the urge to grin. "If the media got a hold of this it would damage the school's reputation, and bad publicity is the last thing we need right now with everything else going on," she explained tiredly, rubbing her eyes with her left hand.

"But you know Leaf is a good student. She would never-" Gary began to protest, trying to argue for my case, but Johanna just shook her head.

"I'm sorry but I have to follow regulations," she said apologetically.

"Hold up," I said, frowning. Her words were only just registering in my tired brain. "What else is going on?"

Johanna looked confused at my question. "Pardon?"

"You said, 'bad publicity is the last thing we need right now with everything else going on'," I quoted. "What else is going on?"

For a moment Johanna just stared at me, taken by surprise. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with," she said, recovering quickly. "A slip of the tongue is all it was. Now hurry up and get to class the pair of you – but change out of your wet clothes first, we can't have you both catching colds," she said briskly before drawing herself together and hurrying away.

"And they say she graduated from here herself with a degree in acting," Gary scoffed, watching her disappear. "Something is definitely up."

"Yeah," I mumbled agreement. Now that Johanna had gone, exhaustion crashed over me and I realised I was freezing. I was so cold my feet and fingers were going numb. "I'm going to change. See you later Gary," I said, turning away and beginning to drag my feet back to my dorm.

Before I had taken two steps, Gary caught my wrist. Warmth spread through me at his touch despite the fact I was still dripping wet with freezing cold water. "Wait – Leaf, I'm sorry," he muttered.

"What?" I stood still, blinking stupidly. Did the egotistical jerk just _apologise_?

"You heard," Gary shrugged, dropping my wrist. "Later Leafy," he added, smirking as he walked off in the opposite direction, no doubt heading for his own dorm.

I shook my head and continued back to my room. Just because he apologised that didn't mean he was forgiven. Having your name written in the blue book meant you'd committed a serious offence. If your name went in three times, your parents were called. The fourth time, you were suspended. The fifth time, you were expelled. I had hoped to get through school with a clean record, but thanks to Gary that wasn't going to happen now. There wasn't anything I could do about it now though, so I carried on walking, incoherent thoughts swimming around in my brain.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Sooooo what'd ya think? All reviews are of course welcome with open arms! Did it match your expectations or fall short? I'd love some feedback to help me improve :)

Thanks for reading,

~ Jay


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